Tunisia in turmoil after opposition figure gunned down

The cradle of the so-called Arab Spring, Tunisia, is engulfed in turmoil this morning after the assassination of an opposition leader.

Chokri Belaid, who led one of the parties in the opposition movement, the Popular Front, was shot dead by a gunman as he left his home in the capital Tunis.

Prime minister Hamadi Jebali said the assassin was a lone gunman, wearing a traditional hooded robe who shot Mr Belaid with three bullets fired at close range.

Mr Belaid was an outspoken critic of the Islamist party that rules the government.

The murder sparked violent protests, with at least one policeman dying in the ensuing clashes.

Mr Jebali responded to the assassination by announcing plans to form a government of technocrats without political affiliations.

"I have decided to form a government of competent nationals without political affiliation, which will have a mandate limited to managing the affairs of the country until elections are held in the shortest possible time," he said in a televised address to the nation.